Jizhong Shengguanyue

Jizhong Wind Pipe Sheng Music

(from left)
1) Guanzi, the main instrument of Jizhong Shengguanyue (1993)
2)A performing occasion of Jizhong Shengguanyue (Xiong county, Hebei province, 1993)
(c) Music Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Arts

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Jizhong Shengguanyue is a typical form of Hebei province (centered around the Baoding and Langfang counties)and the suburbs of Tianjiang and Beijing.

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Reasons for selection

Its folk qualities and religiousness.

Area where performed

In the middle part of Hebei province (centered around the Baoding and Langfang counties)and the suburbs of Tianjing and Beijing.

Essential elements of the performing art

Music

Detailed explanation

Jizhong Shengguanyue is also called Yinyao, Jizhong Chuige, etc. It is mainly handed down at the Baoding, Ding, Xiong, Laishui, Anpin, Langfang, Gu'an, and Bazhou counties in Hebei province; also in the Jinghai county of Tianjing area and Daxing county of Beijing area. According to the extant hand copied scores' manuscripts and the inheritance of folk artists, the history of this performing art is at least of over 200 years. This kind of performing art is mainly maintained by the organizations of Yinyao concert (music club). The Yinyao concert normally is held within the villages, therefore usually the situation is one village one concert. The scores are hand copied in the traditional Chinese gongchepu notation. Its performing occasion is either for funerals of the death, or for the Spring Festival and July 15th of the lunar calender. Owing to the differences of the music repertory, and instruments and folk tunes, its style is warm and rough; the latter mainly plays in cyclical forms. As for the style of performance, there are two kinds of concerts: the southern music concert and the northern music concert. The former mainly performs single qupai (traditional melodies and tunes)and the style is simple and unsophisticated. According to our continuous field work since 1986, we found that until the present, there are hundreds of music concerts still active in these areas.

Publication and textual documentation

QIAO Jianzhong, XUE Yibing, JONES, Stephan and ZHANG Zhentao
n.d. Jizhong, Jing, Jindiquminjian Yinyuehui Puchashilu A Record of General Investigation of Yinyuehui in Jizhong, Beijing, Tianjing Areas in Annual of Chinese Music.
Jinan: Shan Dong Friendship Publishing House. In Chinese.

Audio documentation

Folk Instrument Traditions
CD, English text inside, n.d. Switzerland

Visual documentation

already available

Institution/organisation involved in preservation and promotion

exists

Data provider

Mr. Qiao Jianzhong
Director
Music Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Arts
Address: Dong zhi men wai, Xin Yuan Li West Building No.1, Beijing 100027, China